Turner Partners with TV Asahi on SUPER SHIRO series

Turner Asia Pacific and TV Asahi have announced a collaboration on a new animated series called SUPER SHIRO. The partnership was sealed last week at Kidscreen Summit in Miami.

The agreement includes broadcast rights across Asia Pacific (ex-China). This is the first regional deal between the two parties and includes a sizeable investment from Turner.

The fast-paced chase series is inspired by the hugely-popular "Crayon Shin chan" franchise, which has aired internationally since 1992. SUPER SHIRO is produced by Shin-ei Animation, known for both "Doraemon" and "Crayon Shin chan", and Science SARU, a Tokyo-based animation studio led by Masaaki Yuasa.

Masaaki Yuasa is the executive director on the series. He was a Cristal Award Winner at the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival and recently won the 41st Japan Academy Prize for "Animation of the Year". He also guest-directed the "Food Chain" episode from Cartoon Network's Adventure Time.

Edward Barnieh, Director of Acquisitions and Co-productions at Turner Asia Pacific, said: "Turner's investment in the series is testament to its strategy of developing quality local IP and takes our long-term partnership with TV Asahi to the next level. We're confident that this collaborative effort will result in the creation of another awesome fan-favourite."

Takahiro Kishimoto, Head of Animation, International Business Department of TV Asahi, added: "We are delighted to partner with an international media company like Turner. With its extensive reach and brand recognition in Asia Pacific, we are certain kids will get to enjoy SUPER SHIRO even more. We truly believe this collaboration strengthens the partnership between our two companies."

The kids series (48x5.5') is expected to launch in early 2020 across Turner's Kids channels Cartoon Network, BOOMERANG and POGO.

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